Matchroom chief says Jimmy Sains can cause ‘big problems’

The big-hitting 22-year-old from Brentwood produced a dominant second-round stoppage of Spain’s Jesus Lobeto at Newcastle’s Utilita Arena on Saturday.

Sains, who represented Brentwood, Newham and Repton as an amateur, went into his second paid bout in a more relaxed and timely fashion.

He admitted during his debut third-round stoppage victory over Bartlomiej Stryczek at Wembley’s SSE Arena last month that he rushed in and was a bit reckless with his work despite dominating the bout.

He produced a similar performance against Lobeto, 28, who found himself in trouble midway through the second round when trapped in the corner by a variation of punishing head and body shots. Referee Ron Kearney saw enough and halted the contest after 1.57.

“I feel this time I was taking my time,” said West Ham fan Sains.

“In between I was stepping back, having a little think and then going again. I was picking my shots a bit more than last time when I was swinging in and loading up with everything. But this time I placed them a bit better.

“I heard him wince a few times with the body shots and he was calling it on, but really he didn’t want no more. Fair play to him, he was a game opponent.”

Hearn was equally impressed with the way Sains performed in his second professional win.

“Jimmy is always going to be exiting, that’s never going to be a problem for him,” said the 44-year-old.

“It’s just about composure, punch selection variation and just keeping his cool.

“Last time out he was on very late on the card, he sold 500-600 tickets so there’s a lot of pressure on him. That’s the beauty of having these fights on the road where he can just experience new things and take his time.

“It’s really about the progression of Jimmy Sains and we saw a much calmer Sains. The jab was fantastic and the opposition will get tougher but he was a tough man and he ended up becoming target practice.

“But you’ve got to hit the target and that’s what Jimmy did. He broke him down with some beautiful shots and some great body work as well.

“He’s always going to be exciting, always going to have heavy hands, it’s the job what Tony Simms [trainer] can do on the skill with Jimmy Sains and let him mature as a fighter, he’s going to be a big problem in the division.”

And Hearn is now planning to put Sains out again in either January or February.

“That’s him done for the year now,” he added.

“It’s two fights in six weeks but he’ll be back January or February so he’s going to have to work over Christmas.

“He’s got two to three years of work, no real time off. It’s not the time to start going on holiday and celebrating a victory over that guy with all due respect.

“It’s just another notch on the victory list now, but we’ve got a lot of work to do and we go back to work before a massive 2024.”